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Martedi, 11 giugno 2024 - San Barnaba ( Letture di oggi)

Acts of the Apostles 19


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DOUAI-RHEIMSNEW JERUSALEM
1 And it came to pass, while Apollo was at Corinth, that Paul having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples.1 It happened that while Apol os was in Corinth, Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus, wherehe found a number of disciples.
2 And he said to them: Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? But they said to him: We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost.2 When he asked, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?' they answered, 'No, wewere never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.'
3 And he said: In what then were you baptized? Who said: In John's baptism.3 He asked, 'Then how were you baptised?' They replied, 'With John's baptism.'
4 Then Paul said: John baptized the people with the baptism of penance, saying: That they should believe in him who was to come after him, that is to say, in Jesus.4 Paul said, 'John's baptism was a baptism of repentance; but he insisted that the people should believein the one who was to come after him -- namely Jesus.'
5 Having heard these things, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.5 When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus,
6 And when Paul had imposed his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.6 and the moment Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began tospeak with tongues and to prophesy.
7 And all the men were about twelve.7 There were about twelve of these men in al .
8 And entering into the synagogue, he spoke boldly for the space of three months, disputing and exhorting concerning the kingdom of God.8 He began by going to the synagogue, where he spoke out fearlessly and argued persuasively aboutthe kingdom of God. He did this for three months,
9 But when some were hardened, and believed not, speaking evil of the way of the Lord, before the multitude, departing from them, he separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.9 till the attitude of some of the congregation hardened into unbelief. As soon as they began attackingthe Way in public, he broke with them and took his disciples apart to hold daily discussions in the lecture room ofTyrannus.
10 And this continued for the space of two years, so that all they who dwelt in Asia, heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Gentiles.10 This went on for two years, with the result that al the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, wereable to hear the word of the Lord.
11 And God wrought by the hand of Paul more than common miracles.11 So remarkable were the miracles worked by God at Paul's hands
12 So that even there were brought from his body to the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the wicked spirits went out of them.12 that handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched him were taken to the sick, and they were cured oftheir il nesses, and the evil spirits came out of them.
13 Now some also of the Jewish exorcists who went about, attempted to invoke over them that had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying: I conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.13 But some itinerant Jewish exorcists too tried pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus over peoplewho were possessed by evil spirits; they used to say, 'I adjure you by the Jesus whose spokesman is Paul.'
14 And there were certain men, seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, that did this.14 Among those who did this were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest.
15 But the wicked spirit, answering, said to them: Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?15 The evil spirit replied, 'Jesus I recognise, and Paul I know, but who are you?'
16 And the man in whom the wicked spirit was, leaping upon them, and mastering them both, prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.16 and the man with the evil spirit hurled himself at them and overpowered first one and then another,and handled them so violently that they fled from that house stripped of clothing and badly mauled.
17 And this became known to all the Jews and the Gentiles that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.17 Everybody in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, heard about this episode; everyone was fil ed withawe, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in great honour.
18 And many of them that believed, came confessing and declaring their deeds.18 Some believers, too, came forward to admit in detail how they had used spel s
19 And many of them who had followed curious arts, brought together their books, and burnt them before all; and counting the price of them, they found the money to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.19 and a number of them who had practised magic col ected their books and made a bonfire of them inpublic. The value of these was calculated to be fifty thousand silver pieces.
20 So mightily grew the word of God, and was confirmed.20 In this powerful way the word of the Lord spread more and more widely and successful y.
21 And when these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying: After I have been there, I must see Rome also.21 When al this was over Paul made up his mind to go back to Jerusalem through Macedonia andAchaia. 'After I have been there,' he said, 'I must go on to see Rome as wel .'
22 And sending into Macedonia two of them that ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself remained for a time in Asia.22 So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, ahead of him to Macedonia, while he remainedfor a time in Asia.
23 Now at that time there arose no small disturbance about the way of the Lord.23 It was during this time that a serious disturbance broke out in connection with the Way.
24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver temples for Diana, brought no small gain to the craftsmen;24 A silversmith cal ed Demetrius, who provided work for a large number of craftsmen making silvershrines of Diana,
25 Whom he calling together, with the workmen of like occupation, said: Sirs, you know that our gain is by this trade;25 cal ed a general meeting of them with others in the same trade. 'As you know,' he said, 'it is on thisindustry that we depend for our prosperity.
26 And you see and hear, that this Paul by persuasion hath drawn away a great multitude, not only of Ephesus, but almost of all Asia, saying: They are not gods which are made by hands.26 Now you must have seen and heard how, not just in Ephesus but nearly everywhere in Asia, this manPaul has persuaded and converted a great number of people with his argument that gods made by hand are notgods at all.
27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought, but also the temple of great Diana shall be reputed for nothing; yea, and her majesty shall begin to be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.27 This threatens not only to discredit our trade, but also to reduce the sanctuary of the great goddessDiana to unimportance. It could end up by taking away the prestige of a goddess venerated al over Asia, andindeed al over the world.'
28 Having heard these things, they were full of anger, and cried out, saying: Great is Diana of the Ephesians.28 This speech roused them to fury, and they started to shout, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!'
29 And the whole city was filled with confusion; and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.29 The whole town was fil ed with the uproar and the mob made a concerted rush to the theatre,dragging along two of Paul's Macedonian travelling companions, Gaius and Aristarchus.
30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.30 Paul wanted to make an appeal to the people, but the disciples refused to let him;
31 And some also of the rulers of Asia, who were his friends, sent unto him, desiring that he would not venture himself into the theatre.31 in fact, some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent messages urging him not to take the riskof going into the theatre.
32 Now some cried one thing, some another. For the assembly was confused, and the greater part knew not for what cause they were come together.32 By now everybody was shouting different things, til the assembly itself had no idea what was goingon; most of them did not even know why they had gathered together.
33 And they drew forth Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews thrusting him forward. And Alexander beckoning with his hand for silence, would have given the people satisfaction.33 Some of the crowd prevailed upon Alexander, whom the Jews pushed forward; he raised his hand forsilence with the intention of explaining things to the people.
34 But as soon as they perceived him to be a Jew, all with one voice, for the space of about two hours, cried out: Great is Diana of the Ephesians.34 As soon as they realised he was a Jew, they all started shouting in unison, 'Great is Diana of theEphesians!' and they kept this up for two hours.
35 And when the town clerk had appeased the multitudes, he said: Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great Diana, and of Jupiter's offspring.35 When the town clerk eventual y succeeded in calming the crowd, he said, 'Citizens of Ephesus! Isthere anybody who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the guardian of the temple of great Diana andof her statue that fell from heaven?
36 For as much therefore as these things cannot be contradicted, you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.36 Nobody can contradict this and there is no need for you to get excited or do anything rash.
37 For you have brought hither these men, who are neither guilty of sacrilege, nor of blasphemy against your goddess.37 These men you have brought here are not guilty of any sacrilege or blasphemy against our goddess.
38 But if Demetrius and the craftsmen that are with him, have a matter against any man, the courts of justice are open, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another.38 If Demetrius and the craftsmen he has with him want to complain about anyone, there are the assizesand the proconsuls; let them take the case to court.
39 And if you inquire after any other matter, it may be decided in a lawful assembly.39 And if you want to ask any more questions you must raise them in the regular assembly.
40 For we are even in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no man guilty (of whom we may give account) of this concourse. And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.40 We could easily be charged with rioting for today's happenings: there is no ground for it al , and wecan give no justification for this gathering.' When he had finished this speech he dismissed the assembly.